The Dreamer's Future
by LsShinigamiRose
Summary: This is the tale of the young woman whose dreams of the future saved the lives of many. From childhood, to her first year, all the way to Harry's journey. OC/Snape Currently rated T, but will change in way future chapters.
1. Wherein Our Lady is Introduced

**First Harry Potter story, inspired by my rewatching of Deathly Hallows Part 1. Trying to keep to the timeline of the Marauders years at school as much as possible. Tell me what you think. **

"Oi, you!" Adriana looked up from the rose bush she had just finished planting and turned around on her knees to look across the street. There was a boy yelling at her and waving his hand. His hair was messy, but it looked fine. His glasses only succeeded to accentuate his looks. She remembered that he was the son of the Potters, who lived across from them. Being only 10, Adriana was still shorter than the boy across the street. She hated being shorter than other people. He waved at her again, smiling before he looked down the street and then ran over to her. He bent down near her smiling.

"Hey, my name's James. I've seen you working out here every day." She smiled back at him and put all of her tools back in her bucket. She turned back to him after taking off her gloves. She held her hand out to him for him to shake while she introduced herself.

"I'm Adriana." She turned to smile at her small garden her parents let her keep.

"This is my garden, I love it a lot."

"I can tell. But, I don't ever see you playing with friends or even coming outside besides to tend you garden. Don't you have any friends?" The smile fell from her face and she looked down at her hands clasped in her lap, shaking her head.

"Well," James stood up and held his hand for her to take. She looked up at him confused.

"let's go ask your parents if it's alright for you to come over and play with me." She grinned up at him, standing up and grabbing her bucket. She took his hand and they ran inside to talk to Adriana's parents. Her parents were happy to see her making friend's with another pureblood. They lived in a muggle neighborhood, but they still wanted their daughter to marry another pureblood. The only reason they lived near muggles was because most muggles were much less sociable with strangers than wizards. The Octavius family valued their privacy above almost everything.

The rest of the day saw James and Adriana playing in the woods behind the Potter's house. His mother was happy to meet Adriana and accepted her like she was one of the family. Adriana returned home well after dark and went to bed, content that she finally found a friend.

This continued on for months, until one night just before the two had their 11th birthdays. They had been forced to come to a party along with their parents and the two of them kept to themselves, not sure about the other kids that were there. They were either older than them or looked too boring to the two of them. James had succeed in bringing Adriana out of the shy shell she had been in, she was much more talkative than she was when he first met her. They had been talking about their latest adventure in the woods in a corner of the ballroom when they were interrupted by another boy their age approaching them. He had dark hair and deep gray eyes. His hair was longer and more messy than James', but it suited him well.

"Mind if I join you two? You two don't remind me of pompous vultures, like the rest of them do." James turned to the boy and nodded, after taking a look at Adriana who nodded at him. He held out the hand that wasn't holding his juice and smiled at the boy.

"James Potter, nice to meet you." The boy shook his hand, smiling back at him.

"Sirius Black." Sirius turned to Adriana and held out his hand to her. She shook it, smiling.

"Adriana Octavius." She introduced herself. His face lit up.

"Ah, so you're the girl they're talking about over there!" Her head tilted curiously.

"Who is?" Sirius moved to stand beside her and pointed to the other side of the ballroom, where her parents and another couple were talking.

"Those four over there." Adriana's brows creased as James moved to her other side to look at where Sirius was pointing.

"Ah, that's your parents and they're talking to the Malfoys." She turned to look at Sirius.

"What were they saying?"

"The normal for us pureblood kids. 'My kid has to marry into a pureblood family, blah, blah, blah.'" Adriana laughed at Sirius's description and James joined in, making fun of parents. They acted like they've known each other forever, even though they just met. The three of them continued on until another boy walked over and bowed to Adriana. She looked surprised, but curtsied back. He was obviously older than them and walked with a poised grace. His long pale blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, held with a black ribbon. He held out a hand to her and she cautiously put her hand in his, not sure who this boy was. James and Sirius had moved directly behind her, flanking her on each side. They were tensed, as if ready to defend her if need be.

"Miss Adriana, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lucius Malfoy." He kissed her knuckles and Adriana's cheeks turned red. Sirius snorted behind her and she turned her head to peer at him. He just turned his head away, his arms crossed. She turned back to Lucius.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Adriana wasn't too sure of where this was going to go. He kept a hold of her hand and bowed again.

"May I have this dance?" Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Um, well to be perfectly honest Mr. Malfoy, I'm horrible at dancing." Adriana admitted turning her head to the side.

"I would be happy to help improve you ability." Sirius turned back to watch Lucius, his eyes narrowed. He knew the Malfoys well and was sure that this was just an act that Lucius's parents put him up to. He stepped forward, after giving James a motion of his head to the other corner of the ballroom and took her hand out of Lucius'. He turned her to face him, his other arm wrapping around her back and started to twirl the two of them around, giving a grin to Lucius.

"Sorry mate, she already promised me a dance." They melted into the crowd of dancers and Adriana breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Sirius for saving me from him. I was serious when I said I couldn't dance, I'm amazed I haven't tripped you yet." Sirius just grinned down at her.

"No, I'm Sirius. And you're doing fine. It's the men who are supposed to lead, so it's never you're fault for not being able to dance properly." That made her smile up at him and they finally made it across the ballroom to the other corner where James was waiting for them. They weren't bothered the rest of the night and before they left, Adriana made sure to invite them over to her house the next week for her 11th birthday. She was happy to have people besides her parents to share her birthday with. Her birthday was seven days before James, making her birthday March 18.

Her birthday came and passed. James had gotten her a bunch of flowers to plant in her garden and Sirius had contributed some as well. He was embarrassed that he had to leech off James's idea and decided to make it up to her on her next birthday. On the day of James's birthday, Adriana had gotten him a book of jokes and pranks she had found at a local bookstore. He loved it. Their celebrations at the Potter's house was interrupted by 3 owls peaking at the window. Each held a envelope in their beaks and they were quite persistent. James let them in and they flew to land on the back of the chairs at the dining table. Each of them looked pointedly at the three kids and held out their beaks. The three of them moved over to the owl that was looking at them and took the envelope from their mouth. Opening the envelope, each took out the letter and read the same greetings:

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. _


	2. Talking Hats and Obvious Glares

**Had to redo this chapter over and fix some things. Mostly the same, except the Marauders are hating Sev.**

Adriana looked down Diagon Alley with apprehension. There were so many witches and wizards, far more than she was used to. She was here with the Potters, her parents just told her to tell the shopkeepers to charge it to their vault at Gringotts. They were at least excited to hear of her acceptance letter and were positive that she would be in the Slytherin house. Adriana on the other hand, wasn't too sure of Slytherin. She had done her research in Hogwarts: A History, reading the entire thing in two days. She much liked the sound of Ravenclaw, being partial to books and riddles.

"C'mon Adriana, Sirius said he would meet us at Madam Malkin's Robes!" James took her hand and started to drag her along behind him. His parents followed along just behind them. They ran through the crowds, easily finding the shop were Sirius waited for them outside. After going through the fitting, with jokes and silent motions over Madam Malkin's head, they headed off to Ollivander's. The older man met them with a smile and they each asked to find their wand. moved to one of the shelves in the back and pulled out a box, coming to set it on the counter.

"Why don't you take a look at this, a thick larch wand. In length, it is just a bit over ten and three quarters inches long. The core consists of kraken beak." He handed it to James. He turned a gave the wand a swish, it sent out a crackle of blue fire and James immediately turned to give it back to Mr. Ollivander.

"Hm…not the one then. Let's try one for Mr. Black here." He put the previous wand back, bringing back another. The box was quite old, almost falling apart.

"I can recommend this, a spirited cherrywood wand. In length, it is just shy of twelve inches long. It has a core of phoenix tail feather." Sirius turned to give it a whirl and books started to float nearby, shakily but they were floating. He grinned and moved them down into their proper place.

"Well, seems we've found your wand Mr. Black. Now for the two of you…" Mr. Ollivander took a moment to look over James and Adriana, then he turned and moved to the farthest back shelf. He came back and set the box down on the counter, before moving to another shelf and pulling down two more boxes. He opened the top box of the two he just set down and handed it to James.

"Take a try at this. A pine wand. It is just a bit over twelve and three quarters inches long. It's core is dragon bone." James gave it a wave and the glass bottles that were near the far window shattered into pieces. James flinched and put the wand back in the box.

"I think this is the one. Mahogany, 11 inches with a core of unicorn hair." James took the wand and they all saw a grin appear on his face. He motioned with the wand to the nearest stack of boxes and watched as they easily floated towards the ceiling. James moved his wand back down and the boxes set down easily. Adriana was the only one left, who didn't have a wand. They heard the front door open behind them and a boy with long greasy hair came in, apparently looking for his wand too. Adriana smiled at him and he just turned his head away, hiding behind his hair.

"Ms. Octavius, try this." Mr. Ollivander took the first box that he had set on the counter and opened it.

"This is a rune inscribed ash wand, 11 inches. It's core is of Augurey tail feathers. Augureys are Irish phoenixes." Adriana took a hold of the wand and felt an immediate attraction to it. It seemed to connect with some part of her mind and she knew she would have no trouble using it. She turned to the side of the shop with so many boxes and dust upon the floor. She waved her wand once and the boxes resumed their place upon the shelves, but the dust still stayed. Mr. Ollivander chuckled at the display.

"I knew that wand was the one for you. It starting moving off the shelf when you walked in." She smiled and then moved the boys out of the way, to make room at the counter for the other boy. She motioned him forward and he walked slowly towards the counter. He turned towards her for a moment, just enough to allow her to see his deep black eyes. They stared at each other for a minute, before he turned away to stare at the counter, then back to her.

"Thank you." The boy muttered softly, obviously not used to people being nice to him. Adriana grinned at him, before she was dragged out of the shop by James and Sirius, having paid for all of their wands. She was able to wave bye to the boy before the shop door closed behind them.

"Well, now that we've got our wands and Adriana back, let's finish our shopping."

Not two months later, the three of them were on the train to Hogwarts. They had been able to get an empty compartment to themselves until a couple boys came to their door and asked to sit with them. The first boy had short light brown hair and his face looked as if he had been under a lot of strain for being 11. The other boy was wiry and tiny, his hair a pale brown, almost looking colorless.

"I'm James Potter." James smiled.

"Sirius Black." Sirius introduced himself, grinning.

"I'm Adriana Octavius." Adriana smiled at them. The first boy nodded to them and held out a hand to James and then Sirius.

"I'm Remus Lupin. And this is Peter Pettigrew." The five of them started talking, well except Peter, who rarely put in a comment or two. They all found out they had a love of Quidditch. James and Sirius wanted to try out for the house teams, if they could. But they doubted they could during first year. The two weren't discouraged though. They just had to wait for their time to shine, as the muggles say.

The transfer from train to boat was odd to say the least. She had never been off of land in any way and certainly not onto a boat. She was unsure of her sea legs and approach the boat the other boys were on with caution. Adriana discovered that the boats were only allowed to hold so many and after Peter had finally gotten in, the boat started to move towards the castle. James and Sirius let out a bark of protest.

She just waved it off and told them to be careful. They promised to wait for her when they got off the boats. She looked behind her as the last boat was pulling up to her and found the boy from the Ollivander's walking up behind her. She smiled at him before moving to get into the boat and he followed in behind her. It took off once it knew they were the last students off the train.

"So, I hope you found your wand easy enough." Adriana tried to start a conversation with the boy, but he only nodded in response every time. She finally had enough of his silence.

"Hey, I know you're not mute. You talked to me at Ollivander's." She stated, crossing her arms. Her mouth was set in a scowl and she gave him a small glare. He sighed and was lucky enough to move forward to catch her before she fell into the water after moving wrong in the boat. He helped her sit back up.

"My name is Severus, Severus Snape." Adriana immediately grinned .

"There we go! I knew you could talk!" She teased him. It only earned a 'humph' in reply and his head turning to look out over the lake. He turned back when she offered her hand to him.

"I'm Adriana Octavius." He looked at her hand for a moment, before shaking it. About that time, they had arrived at the castle. Severus stepped out first, but just when she thought he was going to dash away to the doors, he surprised her by turning around and offering her a hand to help her out. She took it gratefully and thanked him with a smile. He nodded in reply before he dashed off. Adriana rolled her eyes, he was like her before she met James. That made her want to be his friend and help him come out of his shell.

"Oi, Adri!" Adriana looked ahead to find the guys waiting for her, Sirius waving his arm about wildly. Sirius and James gave Severus a glare as he passed and her eyes narrowed. What had happened that they glared at Severus? She walked towards them and raised a brow at Sirius's nickname for her. He just grinned at her and they all headed inside. An older witch dressed in a deep green, lead them into the entrance hall, where they were told they would be sorted. She was explaining the houses when Sirius whispered to Adriana and James.

"I'm the first of our group to be sorted. This is going to be horrible, I don't want to be in Slytherin like the rest of the family." Adriana agreed with him, none of them were too fond of being sorted into Slytherin. They were led into the Great Hall, as Professor McGonagall, they found out her name to be, strode through the large doors which opened before she even got close to them. The Sorting Hat was a old hat, with a mouth to make up for it's appearance. The Sorting Hat told of how Hogwarts was made and why the houses should band together, but seeing the looks on the students faces as Adriana looked around, she doubted it would happen. The Sorting began.

"Amera, Flora." Adriana didn't pay much attention to the As'. She only started paying attention to the names when it was closer to Sirius's turn.

"Bitier, Devon."

"Black, Sirius." Professor McGonagall called. Sirius gave them a small grin before making his way towards the stool and the Sorting Hat. Whispers were heard from around the hall and Sirius just kept his eyes forward, trying to ignore them. Adriana moved a step forward into Sirius's previous spot beside James, trying to get a better look at Sirius while he was sorted. She didn't have much luck, being shorter than the first years in front of her. James noticed her struggle and bent down so that she could climb on his shoulders and he stood up again. Sirius grinned at them when he sat down and gave Adriana a small wave. Most people just stared at them oddly, a couple laughed. The old man sitting in the chair on the raised platform chuckled with a sparkle in his eye. Professor McGonagall didn't look amused, but proceeded to put the Sorting Hat on Sirius's head. The Great Hall fell into silence. After a few minutes of this, the Sorting Hat opened it's mouth.

"Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table was silent for a moment, before cheering. Adriana took a peek around to look at the Slytherin table and they were all in shock. She also noticed Lucius watching her and she quickly turned back to watch Sirius walk to the Gryffindor table. Remus was the next in the group to get sorted and he was a Gryffindor as well. Things were looking up. It seemed like they would all be in Gryffindor together.

"Octavius, Adriana." Adriana was already off James's shoulders and walked forward after receiving a good luck pat on the shoulder from James. She walked forward, hearing whispers from the students. She turned and sat on the stool, able to take a quick look around the Great Hall before the hat slipped down over her eyes. The Sorting Hat started to speak in her mind.

"_Let's see here. An Octavius, eh? Almost all of your family was in Slytherin, and that's the house you'd prefer not to be in. Hm…Smart, clever. Mischievous. Sorry about this." _

"Slytherin!" Adriana flinched at the yell that was now ringing in her ears. The Hat was removed from her head and she took a look at Sirius and Remus, sitting at the Gryffindor table and James, all whose mouths were agape. She dropped her head slightly and made her way over to the cheering Slytherin table, choosing to sit at the end of the table, closest to the front where no one hardly sat. She didn't feel like talking right now. She was worried about how her friendships with the boys would change since she's in Slytherin. It's not like she wanted to be, they couldn't blame her, could they? She watched as Peter and James were sorted into Gryffindor as well and hung her head. She then remembered she was lucky that Lucius hadn't come down to her end of the table and started bothering her. Her head perked up when she heard another name she recognized.

"Snape, Severus." Severus walked up to the stool. She noticed that his walk was slightly awkward, like he had been bent over a cauldron or something for way too long. He sat down and after less than a minute, the Sorting Hat had it's prediction.

"Slytherin!" Adriana grinned at that, happy that she would know someone in Slytherin house that wasn't a pompous git. Severus came and sat down beside her at the end of the table, looking relieved to not be the center of attention anymore. She turned to smile at him.

"Well, at least we have each other here right? We're not alone." He turned to look at her and nodded. But it wasn't his normal nod that he always used with her, she could sense some emotion behind the nod. He was glad to not be alone in Slytherin.

"So, this makes us friends!" Adriana claimed happily. Severus just stared at her wide eyed. Her head turned curiously to the side.

"Why do you look so shocked that I said we were friends? You don't have any?" Severus's eyes returned to stare at his empty plate and he shook his head. Adriana grinned and moved towards him. This brought his attention back to her and he didn't have time to react when she hugged him suddenly. His arms were limp at his side. He pulled back from her after a moment of getting over the shock.

"It's not that. I did have a friend, but I had a row with her and your pals Potter and Black over in Gryffindor stuck their noses in where it didn't belong." She grimaced, those two had a habit of doing that.

"Sorry about them. Unfortunately, they have a bad habit of doing that." Severus glared across the hall at them in reply.


	3. Arguments and Explosions

The next morning after emerging from the dungeons with Severus, Adriana found James and the other boys waiting outside the Great Hall. She smiled nervously and made her way over to them.

"I'm not sure how you of all of us ended up in Slytherin," Sirius said when she walked up.

"But it doesn't matter." James finished for him. They both came up to wrap an arm around her shoulder and squeezed.

"You're still our best mate." Sirius told her with a grin. She grinned back at him. Professor McGonagall came up behind them and glared. They turned around with a smile.

"Good morning Professor."

"Even though I'm sure that you all would love to sit together, it's best if everyone sat at their respective house tables today." They all nodded, smiles falling.

"Yes Professor." She then shooed them inside, Adriana waiting just inside the doors for Severus. She smiled at him when he caught up to her.

"So, are we resuming our positions at the end of the table today?" She asked him. He nodded and they moved to take their seats. They had only just sat down and grabbed a few things from the platters when they were surrounded by a group sitting around them. At Adriana's other side sat Lucius and apparently, this was his little gang in Slytherin.

"Good morning Ms. Octavius." Lucius greeted her.

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy." She replied and continued to eat her breakfast. She felt Severus stiffen beside her, which probably meant that someone had sat on his other side as well.

"May I enquire what this visit is about?"

"We've merely come to greet our newest first years. We do enjoy when people of good stature come into our house." Severus put down his fork beside her and Adriana scooted over closer to him.

"Welcome to Slytherin." He finished. He eyed how close the two of them were with a raised brow.

"Yes, well, now that you're done, mind leaving us alone? We were enjoying our breakfast in peace before you came over." Adriana bit back at him, turning to glare at her. Lucius glared back, standing up.

"Do realized that I can make your life here a living hell, Octavius or not." He walked away to sit down at another part of the table, his group following. Adriana glared after them and Severus just watched her expression.

"I'd love to see him try." Severus commented before he turned back to his plate. Adriana's eyes widened and she turned to peer at Severus, who sat there finishing his breakfast.

"Was that an offer to help me if he does try?" Severus just gave her this look, like 'are you stupid?' before replying.

"Of course. That's what friends do, right?" She grinned at him and nodded. Adriana turned to look around the hall and Severus's eyes dropped to his plate. He knew Lucius too and was sure that he needed to stay on his good side. Owls suddenly started swooping down from the windows and she smiled when a beautiful amber owl landed in front of her, an letter in it's beak.

"Hello there Tarant. That for me, eh?" He made a noise behind the letter and leaned towards her. Tarant was her parent's owl, he had been with the family ever since she was little. She took it from him and gave him a bit of peach as a reward. He hooted in joy before taking off again. The letter was from her parents, telling her that they were proud to hear of her entrance into Slytherin. She raised a brow at that, she hadn't even told them yet, how did they know? She shook her head, her parents had a weird way of finding things out before she told them. They also said that they were going to send her a few books to read, things that she should know about their family, Slytherin house and spells she should know to defend herself. She smiled at their caring and showed the letter to Severus when he was trying to look at it out of the corner of his eye.

"Octavius! Well, I haven't heard that name in a long time!" A large man had just approached the table, a stack of papers in his hand. He moved around the table to shake her hand, introducing himself.

"Horace Slughorn, my dear. I taught all of your family, I'm sure they've mentioned me." Adriana smiled slightly, shaking his hand.

"Yes, I do remember them mentioning you quite a bit."

"Well, here is your schedules for the two of you. I expect to I'll see you in my Slug Club, very prestigious. It's where the best start their careers." He handed them their schedules before he walked off down the table. They compared their schedules and found they had all the same classes. At least they wouldn't be alone in their classes then.

Their first class was Potions along with the Gryffindors. The two of them had arrived earlier than any of the other students and got to choose where they wanted to sit. They chose a table near the back and had just sat down when other students started to file in. James and Sirius led the crowd and they moved to sit near them. Remus and Peter took the table right behind them, while James and Sirius moved to sit in front of them. The two in front immediately turned around to talk.

"So, what's it like being in the dungeons at night?"

"Peaceful. I rather like it." Adriana answered them. Sirius turned to Severus, looking him over before glaring.

"Why are you sitting with Snivellus?" Adriana rolled her eyes.

"Don't call him Snivellus! He's my friend too!" She glared at Sirius, who merely shrugged and turned around again. Remus tapped her shoulder and asked to speak with her later. James turned around to his desk and after a moment or two, lifted his arm behind his back to hand her a folded piece of paper. Adriana eyed it apprehensively before taking it. She had to slip it into her lap because Slughorn just came in.

"Good morning students! I'm so happy to see such promising first years, many of you from such respected families." A bunch of the students in the room straightened up at that. Adriana just rolled her eyes, this guy was trying to get on the good sides of all the wealthy families. She turned her head to the note in her lap and she noticed Severus trying to nonchalantly look over her shoulder at the note. She chuckled and he turned his head back to Slughorn. Opening the note, she found that James had scribbled something.

_He doesn't sit right with us and he's a bloody git. _

Rolling her eyes, she scribbled a reply.

_Have you even got to know him? _

…

_From your reply, that's a no. He told me you guys into some of his business. What'd you do?_

_He was having a row with this cute girl, Lily. She's in the desk, second from the front in our row. Can't miss her._

Adriana looked up to find that Slughorn was still rambling on and she turned her attention to the second desk. A girl with long red hair was sitting next to another girl and they looked to be in a animated conversation, as they were both smiling and making hand gestures. James and Adriana were passing the note back and forth faster now.

_I see. But why did you guys jump in? And when was this anyway?_

_It was the day when Mum wanted to take Sirius and I with her grocery shopping, so that she wouldn't have to carry all the bags. We saw them outside the store arguing and thought she was being harassed by him._

_And was she?_

_Of course she was! I wouldn't have stuck my head in otherwise! _

…_James. That's a lie. And you know it._

_Fine, I got into it because I thought it would impress her! _

Adriana heard Slughorn heading towards her and immediately made the note disappear with a quick spell she learned from her mother. Slughorn stopped at James's side and looked between the two of them before walking on. Their first potion assignment had started, they were to make a simple sleeping draught. Finding that Slughorn had provided all the items they needed on their desk, she started to prepare the potion. Her parents had made her fix potions before, they had always said they were "too busy" to make them. Thus, she knew many of the ingredients used in potion making.

Severus knew his way with potions as well. Both of them were working fast and were the first ones to finish. They bottled their potions and set it on Slughorn's desk before returning to their seats. Slughorn's face was pure shock and he uncorked each of their bottles to take a whiff. He recorked them and made his way over to their table.

"I'm impressed! The two of you the first ones to finish and both potions were perfectly brewed too! I'll expect more of you two from now on then." They both nodded and Severus returned to his book, while Adriana set her head on her hand, looking bored. None of the other guys were finished and honestly, it looked like James and Sirius were doing horrible at their potions. Adriana pulled out a piece of parchment from her bag and wrote Severus a note. She slyly slid it over to him, when Slughorn had his back turned and waited for a reply. Severus eyed the note before setting his book over it, so that his book hid the parchment. He looked down to read it.

_Don't worry about those two. I'll handle them, should they give you problems. _Severus sneered at the parchment, before fishing his ink and quill out of his bag to reply.

_How do I know that they didn't put you up to this? It seems like something they would do._

_They didn't. I didn't even know you all had a row until today, really. I'm not lying to you, I swear. _Severus looked over at her after reading that and found her to be staring back at him. Her eyes were pleading with him to believe her and something in his mind told him he should.

_Fine. But what's to say that you won't take their side later? _

_If they always start the fight or argument or whatever, then I'll always be on your side. But if you start it, I'm going to have to hear both sides to make a choice, fair enough? _

_Yes._

_Listen, I know you have all rights to suspect me, but I meant it when I said we were friends. I'm not going to leave you for having a fight with some of my other friends. I care about all of you and I don't want to lose any of you. Especially you._

_Especially me? Why? _Severus was just about to slide his reply over to Adriana when he heard a loud bubbling coming from the table behind them. He looked over his shoulder to find that Pettigrew's potion was the one bubbling and he stood swiftly to push Adriana out of the way just as it exploded in the cauldron. Peter was crying out from inside the cloud of smoke and they could hear Remus and Slughorn trying to calm him down. James and Sirius, along with a number of the students in the class, were laughing. Severus moved to get up off Adriana and as he stood, he looked her over to make sure she was alright. He wasn't sure why he had protected her, but he was sure he would have regretted it if he hadn't. He held out a hand to help Adriana up, but it was swatted away by James, who instead helped her up. Adriana slapped his arms away and brushed herself off.

"I'm fine James, there's no need to swat the help of others away from me. He saved me actually." James just narrowed his eyes at Severus, who glared back. Slughorn finally regained control of the classroom and after telling everyone to bottle whatever potion they had currently in their cauldron, he dismissed class. Severus quickly packed his things and dashed out the door, not even waiting for Adriana. She sighed, befriending and getting to know him was going to be harder than she thought now.


	4. Misinterpretations and Nightmares

Adriana left the classroom a moment after, but found no sign of Severus in the hallways. She sighed, but continued to head on to their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. It sounded promising. She entered the classroom to find Severus already sitting with someone else, the girl James was talking about, Lily. They were at desks not too far from the front. Adriana's half smile fell all the way off her face and she moved to sit in the far corner, preferring to be alone as long as she could now. Severus looked away from Lily to watch Adriana's back as she made her way to the far back desks and he felt slightly guilty. His eyes were then drawn to the door when the four annoyances entered and glared at them, especially James who looked downright pissed at who Severus was sitting with. Remus, on the other hand, looked around to find where Adriana was sitting and moved over to her.

"Is this desk taken?" He asked her, motioning to the desk beside her. She turned her head from staring at her desk to smile at him and shook her head. He sat down and prepared his things on his desk before turning to her. James and Sirius followed where Remus sat with their eyes and then moved to sit in the row in front of him and Adriana. Peter was then forced to find someone else to sit with, as the desk were arranged in twos. Remus finally decided to speak to her after he was sure James and Sirius were lost in their own conversation. He leaned closer to whisper to her.

"I personally don't find anything wrong with Severus." This made Adriana turn her head towards him and smiled.

"Thank you Remus." She leaned over to hug him and Remus, whose face was cherry red, returned the hug after a moment's shock.

"Hey you two, don't snog behind our back!" The two pulled apart to find James and Sirius watching them with matching grins. Adriana rolled her eyes at them, before the teacher entered the classroom with a slam of the door. The class was interesting, but Adriana preferred Potions better. After a full hour, the class let out and everyone headed to lunch. Lily dashed out before Severus and both he, Adriana and James watched her go. Trying to talk with her didn't go as well as he thought, she was still mad at him. He sighed and packed his things up. James dashed out the door after Lily, like a lovesick puppy and Remus just shook his head at him. Sirius just laughed and stood up to go after him. Now, there were only three left in the room now: Severus, Remus and Adriana. Remus was staying around to make sure that she would be alright and if Severus stormed off again, then he would walk her down to lunch. Adriana had other ideas though, she stood once her bag was packed and walked out. She was on the 2nd floor landing when she heard two sets of footsteps behind her. She stopped and turned to look at them. Remus and Severus were walking briskly down the steps after her and she smiled at the sight. Both stopped in front of her and caught their breath, before turning their heads to look at the other. Severus glared at Remus, who just stared back before turning to Adriana.

"Well, I'm just going to head on. See you later Adriana." Remus left, but not before giving her a wave goodbye. Severus watched after him before stepping up beside Adriana.

"Shall we head to lunch?" He asked. She nodded in reply and they started downstairs to the Great Hall. They made their way to their end of the table and sat down, picking a few things off the platters. Adriana was eating slower than usual and it bothered Severus.

"What's wrong?" He asked her. She jumped and shook her head.

"It's nothing, just something stupid. That's all." His eyes narrowed.

"It's not stupid if it's bothering you like this." She shook her head again.

"It really is stupid, Severus. I shouldn't be letting it bother me like this." She lifted her head from her plate to smile at him. He could tell she was still hiding it, but decided not to push the issue anymore. They continued eating until it was announced that the first years were free to explore the castle, except for the places that were forbidden of course. It was to get themselves familiarized with where the classes and other resources were and Adriana brightened at the announcement. She turned to grin at Severus.

"Up to do some exploring? I've been dying to look around this place since we got here!" He smiled at her excitement and nodded. She stood, swinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing his hand to drag him out of the hall after her. They stopped just outside the Great Hall and she put a finger to her lip in thought.

"Hm…outside or inside first?" She turned to ask him and he motioned outside, since it was such a nice day out. She nodded and grabbed his hand again, pulling him after her. They explored the grounds, finding that the lake the most interesting. After noticing other students claiming trees around the lake, Adriana looked to find a tree that had yet to be claimed. She spotted one on the far side of the lake and pointed it out to Severus, who started to then pull her over to it. It was a surprise, but she was happy that he was participating in the exploration, instead of her leading all the time. They sat down under the tree, which was on a slight hill above the lake, just before the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Adriana stretched out her legs and sighed, enjoying their spot. She then had an idea, a charm she learned from one of the books from her parent's library.

"We need to claim our tree, so that no one else can take it from us." She told Severus who looked up from leafing through his notes. He raised a brow at her.

"How are we going to do that?" Adriana grinned and motioned for him to move away from the tree like she was doing. She took out her wand, turning her head around to make sure no one was watching them, and pointed it at the tree.

"_Eterna Nostra_!" The tree didn't react when a spark of light flew from Adriana's wand to hit the tree. Severus doubted she even knew what the spell did until letters appeared on the tree's trunk. He didn't have to lean closer to read what they said.

_SS_

_AO_

Was what was written upon the trunk now, large enough to be read from a few feet away. He turned to look at Adriana who merely smirked at him and put away her wand. She returned to her spot and leaned back against the tree, closing her eyes. Severus made a move to go back to his spot beside her, but paused to look her over. He still wondered why this girl would ever want to spend her time with him. She obviously could have been popular if she wanted, since she was friends with those four gits, who already had a crowd of girls following them. He noticed her evened out breathing and was surprised that she had fell asleep so quickly and easily. He rolled his eyes, but moved to sit beside her. He pulled out his book again and began to read. He stiffened when he felt Adriana fall over and her head leaning against his arm. He let out a frustrated sigh, moving her head up. He moved his body over so that she could rest her head on his shoulder and he went back to reading.

_A child's scream rose from a burning house and the man that was floating in the air beside her let out a scream of anguish. He looked worn and battered, like he had just finished a large battle. A woman, covered in flames came running out the front door, screaming while she tried to put out the flames upon her person. Her wand was no help as it was collapsing into ashes in her hand. Adriana pulled out her wand to try and help, but she knew no spells that could help. Her wand dropped from her hand as she dropped to her knees and she turned to look at the man. She was able to see the men behind him now and she could tell they were Dark wizards. Amongst them, she recognized her father and she grimaced. She knew that her parents were involved with the Dark Arts, but she had never guessed how deep they were in. Adriana looked back towards the house and was just able to see the sign that held the family name before it was consumed in flames. 'The Carters.' _

"Adriana!" She heard Severus's voice calling out to her and felt her body shaking. He was trying to wake her up, she had started crying and screaming in her sleep, not an hour and a half after she fell asleep. Adriana shot up, breathing hard and tears running down her cheeks. She had no idea who those people were, or why she was dreaming about them. But she knew that she felt guilty for not being able to help them and that her father was one of the ones who did it. She shook her head slightly, it was just a dream right? It wasn't real…

Severus laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around to look at him and she suddenly hugged him. He stiffened, but allowed her to hug him. He heard her laugh against his shoulder. She moved her head just enough so that when he looked down, he could see her mouth moving.

"You know, when someone hugs you, they like to be hugged back." She mumbled against his robes. He heard her though and moved to set down his book. He hesitantly moved one arm around her , not being used to such signs of affection or comfort at all. He squeezed slightly and felt her relax against him. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Adriana had recovered. She pulled back from him, smiling slightly.

"Thanks. I don't know why that dream affected me like that. But I'm glad that you were here to help me, I don't think any of the guys would have been any help." He knew that she meant the four boys that she had come to know and he was happy that he had one-upped them, without them even knowing.

"You're welcome. May I ask what the dream was about that made you scream and cry in your sleep?" She just shook her head.

"It was more of a nightmare. There was a house burning with a child still inside and the mother came out the front door in flames, her wand just ashes in her hand. The father was being held up in the air by some Dark wizards nearby, forced to watch his family die…"


End file.
